Bhagya Das and Himashree Bora
Abstract
In hilly areas, landslides can result in significant loss of life and damage to property. To improve the effectiveness of managing landslide risks, new approaches are necessary to gain a deeper understanding of the threat and to make informed decisions about allocating financial resources. Recent advancements in risk evaluation and assessment have led to systematic and rigorous procedures for better slope management. Given the uncertainty surrounding landslide hazards, the importance of risk assessment and analysis has increased in recent years. The land use and land cover of Guwahati City have been transformed drastically from 2000 to 2022. 157% of the change in built-up areas has been recorded as causing severe damage to natural resources, including vegetation cover and waterbodies. Due to the lack of proper settlement planning, most of the parts of the Guwahati city area face hazards like landslides and urban flooding in the monsoon seasons, as the Guwahati city area receives more than 2500 cm of rainfall annually and creates 8.83% and 10.92% of the total area at very high and moderate risk for landslide events, respectively. There is a need for strict guidelines from the government to restrict the construction of settlements in hillside areas or in hilly areas. This study shows there is a need for proper urban planning strategies to mitigate landslide hazard issues.